The present invention relates to a system for generating service-oriented call-charge data for at least one service in a communication network. The system comprises in at least one first domain, a so-called charge metering domain, network elements for charge metering, called charge metering points in the text that follows, and in at least a second domain, a so-called charging domain, network elements for charging, called charging points in the text which follows.
Charge metering for services in communication networks has hitherto been based on a largely independent and unsynchronized metering of a resource utilization, required for the service, by the network elements involved in the performance or production of the service. Following the utilization, resultant or collected or metered call-charge data are collected in network elements provided for this purpose for generating a service-oriented bill. In a so-called pre-paid method, the charge metering described must take place during the resource utilization.
To be able to perform the charge metering described, all network elements involved in the charge metering must have an unambiguous correlation identifier. This correlation identifier unambiguously identifies all call-charge records which belong to a performance of an actual service and must, therefore, be entered in the call-charge records so that these can be centrally correlated with one another.
One of the central problems of the correlation-based charge metering described is the distribution of the correlation identifier to all network elements involved which has to be performed. The network elements can operate on different network layers such as, for example, on a so-called layer 2, 3 or 7 and at the same time also in various network domains such as, for example, in a so-called PS domain (packet switched) or in a so-called IMS (IP multimedia subsystem). It is also conceivable that the network elements involved in the performance of a service are also separate from one another due to technology boundaries. Thus, the network elements can be based, for example on UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) or WLAN (wireless local area network). In such a heterogeneous environment, a mechanism for distributing the correlation identifier must be defined and subsequently standardized for each new service. Due to this procedure, a rapid and flexible introduction of new services is not guaranteed. Due to the problem presented, it was not possible, for a long time, to offer the so-called MMS (multi media service) for pre-paid subscribers due to a lack of charging methods. The complexity already existing in the charge metering is increased with the new distributed network architectures, in such a manner that charge metering by the present methods described will no longer be controllable in future.
The inefficiency of the existing methods represents a further problem. Hitherto, call-charge data are collected in all network elements involved and the resultant charge records forwarded to a central place. This central place must find the call charge records belonging together out of a flood of data. Following this, the important call-charge records are evaluated and the remaining records are discarded.